Beck's Put Back Basket Leads CCU Past Georgia State

by Brandon Dunn

CONWAY, S.C. – Demario Beck’s offensive rebound and put back basket with 3.5 seconds left in the game gave Coastal Carolina a come-from-behind lead 65-64 win over Georgia State in Sun Belt Conference action.

CCU had to fight from behind in the final eight minutes as the Panthers had built a 42-34 lead in a defensive battle.

Elijah Wilson was able to connect on consecutive three pointers and a Beck field goal evened the score at 42. From there the two teams battled back and forth, but CCU never took the lead until Beck’s put back basket.

The final minute came down to Beck hitting a free throw with 53 seconds left to bring CCU to within 64-63. After running the shot clock down, Georgia State missed a shot with Beck grabbing the rebound with 20 seconds left.

After a timeout, CCU ran the clock down when Jaylen Shaw attempted a three point field which Beck grabbed under the rim and stuck back in.

The game was not over as Georgia State got one final shot at the basket which rimmed out as the final horn was sounding.

CCU (13-13, 8-5 Sun Belt) shot 35 percent from the field and hit nine three point field goals to finish shooting 35 percent on those. CCU also hit 18 of its 23 free throws for 78 percent.

Wilson also finished with 15 points, including four three point field goals and hit all four of his free throws. Colton Ray-St Cyr continued his strong play and scored 13 points with seven rebounds before fouling out with just under two minutes remaining. Shaw finished with 11 points.

Georgia State (16-9, 9-4 Sun Belt) shot 44 percent from the field, but struggled from the three point line only hitting four of its 17 attempts (24%). The Panther connected on 14 of its 17 free throws for 82 percent.

Both teams finished with 34 rebounds as Artur Labinowicz came off the bench to grab a game and career-high 10 rebounds. Beck came within one rebound of another double-double, finishing with nine boards, including the all-important final offensive grab.

The visitors took a 29-25 lead into the locker room at halftime by out shooting the cold Chanticleers 45 percent to 24 percent. Williams had eight and Hollowell added six.

Ray-St Cyr had seven for the Chants with Beck, Shaw and Wiggins scoring six each.

GSU was able to use their height to our rebound CCU 20-18 and also had four blocked shots. CCU stayed in the game by knocking down four three point field goals compared to only one for GSU.

The Chants will be on the road for their next two conference outings beginning with a game at Troy Saturday, Feb.18 at 4:15 p.m. Two nights later CCU will be at South Alabama where they will play the Jaguars Monday evening at 7 p.m. (CT).